The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Intel has announced the resignation of Brian Krzanich as chief executive and a member of the board. The board has named Chief Financial Officer Robert Swan as interim chief executive, effective immediately. Intel was recently informed that Krzanich had a “past consensual relationship” with an Intel employee. This is a violation of Intel’s non-fraternization policy, which ap... » read more

GaN Power Semi Biz Heats Up


The market for devices based on gallium nitride (GaN) technology is heating up amid the push for faster and more power efficient systems. Today, [getkc id="217" kc_name="GaN"] is widely used in the production of LEDs. In addition, it is gaining steam in the radio-frequency (RF) market. And the GaN-based power semiconductor market finally appears ready to take off, after several false starts ... » read more

Consolidation’s Aftermath


The recent spate of industry consolidation continues to have repercussions across the semiconductor industry. Some of those effects will subside once the deals are either approved or nixed by regulatory agencies. Others will raise questions for months or years to come. Consolidation is not a new trend in the semiconductor industry, but the pace and size of the acquisitions in the past year a... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


M&A Dialog will acquire Atmel in a cash and stock transaction for total consideration of approximately $4.6 billion. Dialog anticipates achieving projected annual cost savings of $150 million within two years. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of calendar 2016. IP Synopsys announced a portfolio of IP optimized for the IoT, which includes power- and area-effi... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Investment firm TIG Advisors, a stockholder of Altera, has urged stockholders to vote against Altera’s lead independent director to the board. TIG also contends that Altera has failed stockholders by rejecting a recent acquisition bid from Intel. Altera’s 14nm foundry partner is Intel, while TSMC handles the 20nm and above foundry work. Soon, Altera will choose a 10nm foundry partner. “Sh... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Here’s a sad commentary on the state of Japan’s electronics industry: Some Japanese electronics giants are converting unused factories and fabs into agricultural growing facilities, according to The Wall Street Journal. Last month, for example, Fujitsu began selling lettuce from the Aizu-Wakamatsu plant. It's officially over. IBM's talks to sell its chip unit to GlobalFoundries have offi... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


As semiconductor technology becomes more challenging, expect more mergers and acquisitions in the fab tool sector. In a research report issued this week, Weston Twigg, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, sees several possible M&A scenarios in the future. There is no evidence that any deal is pending right now. But according to Twigg, here are some possible M&As that could happen i... » read more

Good Times For Analog Designers


By Ann Steffora Mutschler For a number of technological reasons, analog/mixed-signal design and low-power design are converging, and with that comes both challenges and opportunities. As far as challenges go, process variations at 14nm, 20nm and even 28nm have increased significantly to include DFM impacts such as layout-delay effects. On the digital side, those process changes affect... » read more

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